The Discovery MultiScan technology from Lake Image Systems installed at the firm's 6,500sqm factory in Croydon is part of a a wider £600,000 investment, which also included six Palamides automatic tray fillers that the MultiScan system was fitted onto.
The Royal Mail’s Mailmark tracking system uses printed barcodes to provide reports on where individual pieces of mail are at up to five different points in the mailing process.
Through an online analytics dashboard, detailed consignment level reports are available on predicted delivery, volume and performance, which enables Real Digital to provide detailed management information reports for its clients. The predicted delivery information helps the firm’s clients to better coordinate their multi-media marketing campaigns.
“Whilst the benefits of moving to Mailmark are considerable, the standard of the Mailmark and associated consignment documentation that we need to supply Royal Mail needs to be 100% accurate,” said Real Digital managing director David Laybourne.
“Volume discrepancies, manifest inaccuracies, mis-sorts or machinability-related errors surfacing at Royal Mail’s mail centres can result in significant non-compliance surcharges which we must avoid.
“It is crucial that we ensure that every Mailmark barcode is correct and conforms to the standards set by Royal Mail before each and every mail-piece leaves our factory. When issues arise, we need to be armed with a set of detailed reports to either confirm or dispute Royal Mail claims.
“It is not inconceivable that Royal Mail systems could be at fault and so we need to evidence that fact that our consignments are 100% correct when Mailmark surcharges are being imposed on us.”
Discovery MultiScan technology scans and tracks each item and ensures that the in-line inkjet printer receives the correct envelope data.
Lake Image engineers added specific functionality to MultiScan to inspect, grade and validate each Mailmark barcode and match it against a master file.
If any Mailmark barcodes fail a set specification, MultiScan will instruct the inserter to divert the piece for further inspection or flag it for an automated reprint. This allows the operator to quickly locate and repair a problem and get the machine running again.
MultiScan, which was installed in February, also captures an image of each envelope at the end of the inserter line before it is handed over to Royal Mail or a downstream access provider.
Laybourne added: “Lake Image once again has provided us with the critical elements for us to deliver a dependable service to our customers and at the same time protects the business from unforeseen liabilities that could hit our bottom line.”
Real Digital International also operates two Screen Truepress Jet520 inkjet printers, five iGen4s and a range of other Xerox machines, W+D inserters and nearly 100 Lake Image Systems cameras.
The firm, which was established in 2004, has 118 staff and a turnover in excess of £18m. It handles transactional, direct mail and plastic card applications for businesses in the financial services industry, health authorities & telecom providers.
